


But Baby, It's Cold Outside

by peachbunny



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: 2Park first drinking experience, Daniel's a huge softie, Fluff, Jihoon's just experiencing first-time-drunk panic, M/M, it's pure fluff I swear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-03
Updated: 2018-01-03
Packaged: 2019-02-27 20:06:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13255668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachbunny/pseuds/peachbunny
Summary: Spending the night drunk after a new year’s party at Kang Daniel’s place wasn’t on top of Jihoon’s holiday wishlist - but he’s stuck as the sole remaining guest and is snowed in for the rest of the day anyway.Unfortunately, Jihoon has heard all the rumors about Daniel - he’s a big bad wolf under that puppy facade. Jihoon stubbornly tries to leave and Daniel is persistent in making him stay - not for the reasons Jihoon is thinking but because it honestly is too cold to go outside (and if he were being completely honest, he would like to keep Park Jihoon warm forever).





	But Baby, It's Cold Outside

 

 

 

Park Jihoon has hated winter for as long as he could remember. It was always far too cold to go outside and it got far too dark too fast. Sure, the snowball fights with Woojin were fun - until both their clothes were soaked and their legs felt like they would freeze off despite the layers of protective gear they had on. 

 

So when he finds himself waking up in bed, with the radio blaring that all roads were closed and they were expecting more heavy snowfall tonight - he knew he was doomed to stay within the house.

 

And on New Year’s Day, no less. 

 

Jihoon tried to crack open an eye - only to be met with dim sunlight streaming into the room from the half-open jalousies. And even that was too bright for him, so he scrunched his eyes closed again. 

 

_ Oh well,  _ he thinks, sinking deeper into the comforter. At least his mother would be around to make him hot chocolate and he could probably play a couple of rounds on the console with his older brother.

 

Only -  _ wait a second  _ \- there was a snoring sound coming from beside him, and nobody in his family was known to snore. His first thought was to check if he somehow ended up sleeping over at Woojin’s house.  

 

“...jin-ah,” he grumbled, barely able to open his mouth. “Woojin-ah.” That’s when Jihoon tasted that his mouth felt awfully dry, and that there was a dull ache at the back of his head.  _ What happened last night? _

 

He tried kicking the figure beside him, but it only grunted in response and shifted closer, slinging an arm around Jihoon’s waist and burrowing its head on the crook of his neck. 

 

“Five more minutes,” came a familiarly husky voice, deepened by sleep but maintaining that southern drawl.

 

Jihoon’s eyes snapped open.

 

A dark blue room. Some skateboards mounted on the walls. Cat scratching poles on the corner. 

 

 _This is not happening,_ he thinks, eyes fearfully trailing down to the silvery head of hair that was now sleeptalking on his collarbone and was trailing up to talk against Jihoon’s jawline.

 

_ Daniel. _

 

Jihoon yelled in horror.

 

***

 

A few moments later, Jihoon found himself inside Daniel’s immaculate bathroom ( _ was Minhyun-hyung just cleaning all night long? _ ), clutching tightly at the sink and looking at his expression in the mirror. He had splashed water on his face five times to get himself to wake up but each time he opened his eyes he was still wearing the same foreign attire: an obviously oversized pajama top dotted with little cat paw prints and a tiny pair of firetruck red shorts. Daniel couldn’t possibly own shorts these tiny - unless...

 

Jihoon groaned as he pulled at his hair. 

 

“As much as I’ve had enough hearing about your juvenile kindergarten crush on Daniel-hyung,” Woojin had told him yesterday wen they were on their way to the apartment. “I will have to keep an eye on you in case your little drunk self goes up to him and confesses on the first minute of the new year.” 

 

Jihoon had scoffed then, wrapping his scarf tighter around his neck as they trudged through snow. “Give me a little credit, Woojin,” he said, “My tolerance isn’t as bad as yours.” 

 

Woojin colored a little before giving Jihoon a little shove and replying, “Your  _ tolerance  _ has only been tested through the little sips of beer the hyungs have been sneaking to us. This is the first time we’re getting a taste of the real thing.”

 

They took a turn and saw Daniel’s apartment a few streets down. “And one more thing,” Woojin whispered, putting an arm around Jihoon and drawing him close. “I hear Daniel-hyung’s an absolute wolf with little red riding hoods like yourself.” 

 

“Have you been trying to make that pun the whole way here?” Jihoon raised an eyebrow. It was an unfortunate coincidence that Jihoon was indeed wearing a bright red hoodie underneath his bright yellow winter coat. “We all know Daniel-hyung’s history with the ladies...even if no one seems to want to talk about it.”

 

“I heard he just spends a night with them and then leaves them pining after him their whole lives,” Woojin added. “It’s testament to how good he is and how ruthlessly routine it is for him.” 

 

“Woojin, you’ve seen him when he’s with us-- he’s more of a kid than you are,” Jihoon said. 

 

“When he’s with  _ us,  _ his friends, his  _ buddies _ ,” Woojin replied. “But when he’s with a possible conquest - I don’t know, let’s say, a little Park Jihoon who has been crushing on him since  _ forever _ and finally gets the guts to tell him - it’s a different matter.” 

 

“He won’t find out,” Jihoon answered as they arrived at the front door and rang the intercom. “It’s not like I’ll get drunk enough to do things I’m going to regret.” 

 

-

 

“This is not happening, this is not happening,  _ this is not happening _ ,” Jihoon chanted, squeezing his eyes closed before splashing his face with water a sixth time.

 

***

 

Jihoon fiddled with his phone as he waited for it to charge just enough so he can make a call, while he nestled his head into the backrest to get rid of the dull ache. So far his investigation of his current condition was this: they were drinking last night to celebrate him and Woojin finally turning into adults, he got shit-faced drunk (and who knew how he was when he was drunk) for the first time, he woke up alone in Daniel’s apartment and wearing Daniel’s sleepwear. And he may or may not have confessed to the older boy who had been uncharacteristically hovering over him all morning. 

 

Daniel walked in with a glass bubbling with berocca, and Jihoon nearly jumped.

 

“This will take the edge off,” Daniel grinned, taking a seat beside him and handing him the glass. Jihoon found Daniel immensely handsome that morning, dressed in a gray tank top and black sweatpants - but right now, he was too worried about the blanks in between his memories from last night. 

 

Jihoon thanked him and placed the glass on the table as he waited for the tablet to dissolve completely. Daniel nestled in closer, an arm resting behind Jihoon’s head as the younger’s eyes opened wide. 

 

_ Why was Daniel moving in too close to him?  _

 

“You were awfully cute last night,” Daniel said, causing a few more red flags to go up in Jihoon’s mind. “I didn’t know you were touchy when you’re drunk?”

 

_ Awfully cute? Touchy?! _

 

“I-I was?” Jihoon stammered, drawing in his knees closer - now very conscious of how incredibly short the red shorts were. Daniel said Jisung had thrown all his clothes in the wash - Woojin had thrown up on them the night before. 

 

“You pulled me into bed and wouldn’t let go,” Daniel laughed, now draping his arm around Jihoon. 

 

“I DID?” Jihoon’s eyes looked like they were ready to pop out any second now.

 

“You wouldn’t let go until I held your-”

 

“THANK YOU, DANIEL-HYUNG, I’LL BE GOING HOME NOW,” Jihoon abruptly stood up and nearly tripped on the coffee table, making a beeline for the coat rack and stuffing himself into his bright yellow winter coat.

 

“Jihoonie, are you okay?” Daniel followed behind him, putting a hand to the smaller boy’s forehead to get his temperature. “I could swear I had you drink enough water to flush out the alcohol by now.” Daniel talked to himself often - something Jihoon would normally find cute (he still thought it was cute now) but he obviously did a lot of embarrassing things last night and he was not staying around to be Daniel-Wolf’s next Little Red Riding Hood. 

 

“Make yourself comfortable, it’s fine. You honestly can’t go home in this weather,” Daniel explained, pointing back at the couch. “The radio announced that no trains are running today, and there are barely any cars on the road.”

 

Daniel looked at Jihoon once and scratched at his neck as he looked away. “Besides, it’s cold outside. And you can’t go out in my boxers.”

 

Jihoon wanted to die. He wanted the floorboards to swallow him up and drop him into the apartment below, where he’ll dig a shallow grave and wait until his ghost ascends to heaven; and even then he’ll ask to be kept on a separate cloud from Kang Daniel.

 

“I can try calling my family,” Jihoon said as he put his coat back on the rack and pulled at the hem of the pajamas he was wearing. “I just helped my dad put chains on the tires yesterday. I really don’t want to be a bother to you, hyung.”

 

“Aish, Jihoonie,” Daniel smiled, patting him on top of the head. “You can stay for as long as you like. Can’t have you going out and catching pneumonia or some disease.”

 

Jihoon nonetheless marched over to where his phone was finally blinking alive. He dialed a familiar number with shaking fingers and put it back on the table to ring on speakerphone.

 

“My mother will start to worry,” Jihoon said as they waited for her to pick up the phone. “You’ll see.”

 

“ _ Hello? _ ”

 

“Eomma!” Jihoon clutched at his chest and knelt on the carpet, thankful that she had her phone about her for once.

 

“Ah, Jihoonie! Happy new year! My baby is now a man, I am so prou-”

 

“We’ll have time for that later,  _ Eomma _ ,” Jihoon bit at his chapped lips, trying to avoid Daniel and his raised eyebrows as the older boy lounged beside him. “I need to get picked up from this address, I can’t seem to go home on my own - the trains aren’t running today.”

 

“Of course they’re not, nothing is running in this weather, baby,” Jihoon’s mom tutted, and he could hear the flurry of ingredients being fixed for the lunchtime meal.

 

“But I’m stranded at Daniel-hyung’s apartment.” Jihoon whined, before leaning in and speaking in a solemn tone. “All alone with Kang Daniel.”

 

The line went silent for a few beats and Jihoon was sure that his mom would freak out and get a SWAT team to extract him from his current location as soon as possible. He had always been his mother’s favorite - which was definitely a perk (first pick on toys, extra slice of cake,  _ here have another drumstick, baby)  _ but meant that he was not allowed on sleepovers except if his parents knew the other kid’s parents on a first-name basis. 

 

“Ah, then you go have fun with Daniel, baby,” his mom’s voice came over speakerphone. Daniel had to bite his own hand to keep from laughing.

 

“No, no, no,  _ Eomma _ !” Jihoon shouted helplessly over the phone. “Your one and only winkbaby is staying a night over at a strange man’s house! You should be worried!”

 

“Park Jihoon, you cannot expect your dad to clear the front road and drive all the way to Daniel’s house in this weather. Besides, you keep telling me that he’s an awesome boy-”

 

BEEP.

 

Jihoon ended the call before his mom blurted out his huge crush on the boy who was now laughing uncontrollably beside him.

 

“I swear, my dad’s pacing the floor with worry right now,” Jihoon lamented.  _ Of all the days his mom chooses to be lenient, it’s today.  _

 

“I guess that means I have her blessing?” Daniel put a hand on Jihoon’s dejected shoulder as the younger boy continued kneeling on the floor. 

  
  


***

 

After Jihoon finished the berocca drink, Daniel passed him a glass of soda and went off to prepare breakfast-slash-lunch.

 

“What’s in this drink?” Jihoon stared up in horror. He knew it was already legal for him to drink - but was Daniel really desperate to get him to stay? He had to spike all the drinks in this house?

 

“Vodka,” the tall boy shrugged. 

 

He grinned mischievously that easily turned into concerned worry as Jihoon started coughing violently. “ _ Ya _ , calm down, it’s just soda!”

 

“That does not taste like soda! What exactly are you planning, Kang Daniel!” Jihoon accused, standing up from the kitchen chair in a futile attempt to loom over his much bigger companion. “Is this laced with some sort of drug?”

Daniel took the glass from Jihoon’s hand and took a quick sip. He started laughing and Jihoon wanted to kick his hyung where it mattered.

 

“The ice just melted,” Daniel managed to explain in between laughing and hanging out his tongue in disgust. “It tastes so bad, I’m so sorry! Let me open you a new bottle,” Daniel jogged over to the storage room in his apartment.

 

Jihoon blushed ruby red at all his suspicions. 

 

***

 

Daniel for the life of him could not figure out what had Jihoon on edge. If anyone should be worried for his life it should be him. 

 

He had planned to tell Jihoon about his feelings for the past few weeks and kept putting it off until Jisung and Ong convinced him to just admit it on the first few seconds of 2018.

 

Only Jihoon’s idea of fun for the first few seconds of 2018 was to do an entire row of shots with Woojin, and Daniel had no acceptable reason to pull the boy off the drinks table. So naturally, as any self-respecting hyung would do, Daniel simply egged the boy to drink more and joined them with a few shots of his own as well.

 

Jihoon had insisted that he knew how to drink - after all, Daniel himself would offer the younger boy a bit of his own drinks whenever they played games late at night. But Daniel had obviously overestimated Jihoon’s tolerance when he found the younger boy crawling into his bedroom and hugging his cats’ scratching poles.

 

“I want to be a cat, because you like cats,” Jihoon said, eyes glazed over as he sat on his own feet. 

 

Daniel thought the whole thing was adorable, but Jihoon could not keep hugging the scratching pole all evening. 

 

“Come on, Jihoonie, we need to get you home. Jisung-hyung can take you,” Daniel shook the boy gently by the shoulders. Jihoon responded by giving a cute meow and purring.

 

Daniel’s eyes widened at that and he couldn’t suppress the smile playing on his lips. His dongsaeng was  _ too  _ adorable. 

“Aish, stop going giddy over  _ that _ ,” Jisung pushed Daniel away and started dealing with Jihoon. 

 

Daniel was, slightly reluctant to leave a purring Jihoon so soon. 

 

“Niel-ah,” Minhyun called from the living room. “We’re taking Woojin back home, his family wanted to see how much has changed now that he’s an adult.”   
  
“Nothing much,” Daniel heard Seongwoo respond. “They’ll be so disappointed to see us when we deliver him there while he’s acting like a huge baby who throws up after eating.” 

 

Daniel peeked out of his room to see Woojin being supported between Minhyun and Seongwoo, barely able to stand and babbling in slurs. He was surprised that the normally-rambunctious Woojin seemed to be more peaceful when drunk. 

 

Sungwoon had left with Jaehwan a bit earlier, both tipsy and insisting that New Year’s wasn’t complete without a visit to a  _ noraebang _ . ( _ Really, Daniel, why doesn’t your apartment have a karaoke machine? _ Jaehwan complained, as if having a machine inside his one-bedroom apartment was a matter of common sense. Daniel thought it was just an excuse to get out of helping clean up the two Parks after Woojin threw up on Jihoon.)

 

Daniel watched his hyungs struggle with the weight of Woojin between them.

 

“Happy new year, Daniel,” Minhyun greeted as he opened the door to leave. Woojin uttered something similar, and Seongwoo looked back at Daniel to shoot him a knowing grin. 

  
“Happy new year  _ indeed _ , Daniel,” Seongwoo made a few kissy faces before snickering away. Daniel covered his face with both hands only to feel how warm it had become. He secretly hoped that docile drunk Woojin had enough fight left in him to maybe punch Seongwoo in the gut accidentally.

 

“No one’s picking up,” Jisung emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later and tapped Daniel on the shoulder and handed him a phone. 

 

“Doesn’t he have a...nametag or something with his address?” Daniel asked, taking the phone and putting it in his pocket. 

 

“Nope,” Jisung replied as he walked over to the coat rack to grab his scarf. “And I feel half to blame for not knowing where Jihoonie lives.” He paused for a while before aiming a smile at Daniel. “Or maybe I do know and I just want to give you a new year’s present.” 

 

“Hyung!” Daniel stamped his feet, already flustered at the idea of being left alone with Jihoon. Drunk Jihoon at that. 

 

“I’m kidding, just kidding, aish,” Jisung laughed, cooing over Daniel and draping his hands over the taller boy’s shoulders. “Just give him a lot of water, the poor boy still wouldn’t shut up when I was changing his clothes.”

 

“You brought extra clothes?” Daniel asked as Jisung threw on his winter coat. 

 

“Who brings extra clothes to a drinking party?” Jisung scoffs, opening the door. “I put him in one of your pajamas.”  

 

“Are you sure you’re leaving him with me?” Daniel tried to get Jisung to stay, puffing himself up. 

 

“Niel,” Jisung smiled sweetly as he stepped out. “You have the ferocity of a blind, newborn puppy. If I heard that Jihoonie was sleeping over with Seongwoo, I’d have the police arrest him, no questions asked, and turn Jihoon over to trauma care.”

Daniel cracked a smile at that.

 

“But you,” Jisung shakes his head, “Have had a crush on that boy for the past five months, have had all the chances to admit it, but haven’t. You can’t even look at his eyes two seconds and not spontaneously combust. Jihoonie will be  _ just fine _ .”

 

Resigned to his fate, Daniel watched Jisung walk over to the elevators. 

 

“Happy new year, Niel-ah,” Jisung waved as he left. Daniel greeted and waved back before closing the door and slumping down on the floor. He was now all alone with Jihoon. In his apartment. And it was 3AM. 

 

Daniel wanted to clean up to get his mind off of his thoughts and the loud beating of his heart, but there was nothing to clean.

 

Two of the perks to having Minhyun along during drinking parties was that 1) someone was always guaranteed to stay sober and take care of everyone; 2) the entire place looked cleaner than when they started. Empty cans of beer and bottles were neatly stacked near the garbage can, the shot glasses were drying on the dish rack -  _ hell _ ,  _ it even seemed like he vacuumed _ . 

  
  
  


_ CRASH. _

  
  
  


Daniel heard what sounded like a bunch of books falling down and a high-pitched yelp coming from his bedroom. He rushed over, panicking, and turned on the lights. Which resulted to another high-pitched squeal.

 

“Jihoonie?” 

 

Daniel gaped at Jihoon, who had managed to fall off the wrong side of his bed, dragging all the blankets with him, and it seemed like he caught onto one of the small shelves near the bedside and pulled it down with him. 

 

“Turn off the sun,” Jihoon slurred, rubbing the top of his head. Daniel rushed over to check if the corner of the shelf hit Jihoon’s head, only to find the boy completely fine although immensely dazed - and wearing Daniel’s pajamas, which were too big for him and with the top three buttons undone. Jisung had paired the pajama top with a bright red pair of shorts (probably because the pajama pants were far too long on Jihoon’s smaller body), and Daniel nearly fainted in embarrassment because they weren’t his normal shorts - they were his backup boxers. 

 

“D-did you get hit anywhere, Jihoonie?” Daniel coughed, squatting beside Jihoon. 

 

“Why are you so red,” Jihoon completely ignored the question and started another topic altogether. Daniel felt two fingers poking at his cheeks and he internally screamed.

 

“I’ve been drinking,” Daniel lied through his teeth - and usually he was a terrible liar, but in this case, Jihoon would have believe anything he said in response. 

 

“Ah, I’ve been drinking too,” Jihoon chirped, voice higher than usual, tone a lot perkier, and it was a cross between the overdone aegyo Jihoon used to intentionally irritate his friends and the rough-speaking Jihoon who was an absolute monster at gaming. Drunk Jihoon was just plain adorable.

 

_ And clingy,  _ Daniel gasps as Jihoon stumbles forward to put both arms around Daniel’s neck. “I drank thiiiiiiiis much,” Jihoon babbles, his breath smelling like peppermint ( _ Jisung was able to get him to brush his teeth - with much difficulty)  _ and it was spoken right against Daniel’s ear. “And now I’m with my faaaaaavorite hyung!” 

 

Daniel put a reluctant hand on Jihoon’s back to keep the boy from teetering sideways. “Jisung is your favorite hyung,” Daniel reminded, steadying the boy who was now leaning in dangerously close. 

 

He felt a slight pang of jealousy - Jisung was Jihoon’s publicly-declared favorite, but it could’ve been anyone else. Anyone else except Daniel. Jihoon played around a lot with all the hyungs, acting sassy, acting cute - but with Daniel it’s always just tough guy gamer Jihoon. Even when they were all kidding around, Jihoon didn’t play-flirt with Daniel.

 

And now here he was getting first-hand experience of how absolutely irresistible Jihoon was when he chose to be ( _ not that he had to try, Daniel was already head-over-heels infatuated with him _ ). 

 

“Don’t tell Daniel-hyung,” Jihoon finally untangled his arms from around Daniel’s neck - and Daniel nearly pouts at losing the closeness of contact - and put a finger to his mouth in a shushing gesture. “But Jisung-hyung isn’t reeeeaally my favorite. He nags too much.”

 

Daniel finally sat down on the carpeted floor, with little drunk Jihoon huddled in between his outstretched legs. His cheeks were getting sore from the amount of smiling he was doing at his cute drunk dongsaeng. Jihoon’s eyes were fluttering closed as he teetered forward and back, on the brink of toppling over and falling asleep in a snap.

 

“Aigoo, look how drunk you are,” Daniel cooed, lightly brushing his fingers against Jihoon’s fringe, which was now sticking up and all over the place. 

 

“ _ Aigoo, look how drunk you are _ ,” Jihoon imitated Daniel’s voice, making his voice intentionally husky. 

 

“Really, this brat,” Daniel laughed. “You’re not going to remember any of this in the morning, are you?”

 

“Good morning to you, too,” Jihoon slurred as he leaned forward slightly, and ended up with his face planted squarely on Daniel’s chest as the older boy failed to catch him in time.

 

“Ya, Jihoonie,” Daniel’s blush flared up again, trying to push the younger off of him, but Jihoon had already found the perfect position to fall asleep. He twisted a bit to get comfortable, and lodged himself on Daniel’s lap with his head resting on the bigger boy’s collarbone. Daniel himself had to lean back a bit to accommodate Jihoon - who was oddly behaving like a cat who was preparing for bed. Which made it all the cuter.

 

“Ya, Park Jihoon!” Daniel was having an internal battle between pushing Jihoon off and shooing him into bed, or taking advantage of the situation and just hugging the boy tight without any repercussions. 

 

“Ya, Kang Daniel,” Jihoon angrily breathed back, nestling himself even more comfortably against Daniel’s larger frame. Daniel had his back against one of the chairs in his room, and he waited a few moments, trying to get himself together. Jihoon finally stopped fidgeting against him and the boy’s breathing slowed down to a regular rise and fall. Daniel looks down at the brown-haired boy sleeping against him and wonders what he did in his past life to get this lucky.

 

“You wouldn’t even remember any of this, wouldn’t you, Jihoonie?” he whispers, fixing the boy’s fringe again as he used the other arm to cradle the sleeping Jihoon. “Ah, I’m just thankful I’m drunk Jihoon’s favorite.”

 

Jihoon didn’t reply. Daniel figures that the younger boy is already asleep. He takes a deep breath.

 

“You wouldn’t even remember that I’m about to tell you I like you,” he breathes out as he looks at Jihoon, peacefully sleeping against him. “Right from the moment I saw you. And I fell for you even harder the more I got to know you.”

 

Daniel knew he was rambling. 

 

“I think I - I yearned for you in a way,” he continued, fingers carefully closing two of the open buttons on Jihoon’s shirt. “Like there was a wish I didn’t know I was praying for but the answer came anyway.” 

 

He held tightly onto Jihoon, allowing himself just a few moments. Just enough to remember when everything was back to normal between them. “I really, really like you, Park Jihoon.” 

 

That’s it. He’s done it. He confessed to Park Jihoon. 

 

He can now carry on with their everyday life treating Jihoon as a responsible hyung, without hoping for more and without fear of rejection. Sensing that Jihoon was deep in sleep and hadn’t budged for the past few minutes, Daniel carefully slid himself off of Jihoon and caught him with the comforters he fell with. He took the sleeping boy in both arms - he was surprisingly heavy for his size - and carried him over to the bed. After making sure Jihoon was snugly tucked in, he leaned over to take one last look at Jihoon’s peaceful face before crashing into his couch outside. 

 

He ran his eyes over Jihoon’s long eyelashes and the swell of his cheeks, and traced down his nose to those chapped lips and that half-open mouth. Daniel  gave a soft smile and whispered, “Good night, Jihoonie.”

 

Without warning, Jihoon’s arms reached out and pulled Daniel’s face into an embrace, mumbling as he did so. “It’s mine, Woojin, find your own…”

 

Daniel found himself in the nth awkward position of the evening, his heartbeat drumming in his ears as he struggled to untangle himself and not wake Jihoon up at the same time. After staying there for a few minutes, Daniel could swear he’d be stooped over and develop ten different back problems once Jihoon releases his iron grip around his neck. The temptation to stay and breathe in the smell of Jihoon - blossom laced with a hint of alcohol - was undoubtedly strong, but if Jihoon wakes up sober all of a sudden it would be hard to explain why he didn’t disentangle himself earlier.

 

“Jihoonie,” Daniel called, shaking the boy awake. It took three different tries before a bleary eye opened and Jihoon replied with, “Daniel-hyung? What are you doing in my arms?”

 

“The better question is what are you doing with my head, but let’s go with that,” Daniel replied, neck quivering with effort. “Can you let me go please?”

 

“Will you leave once I let go?” Jihoon’s voice was heavy with sleep and soju, but his arms thankfully relaxed their hold. 

 

“Of course,” Daniel assured, hands squeezing at the comforter that was tucked in around Jihoon.

 

“Then I won’t let go,” Jihoon responded, pulling Daniel in tighter. The older boy had no choice but to crawl over and lie on top of Jihoon lest his head be pulled clean off his shoulders.

 

“Jihoon,” his voice came muffled against Jihoon’s chest. “Jihoon, I can’t sleep on top of you - you’ll die.”

 

“Ok then, Niel-hyung,” Jihoon loosened his grip again, but found Daniel’s hand and interlaced their fingers. “But no leaving.” 

 

Daniel gulped as he rolled to the side of the bed, as far away from Jihoon as a small queen-sized mattress would allow. Their hands were still linked and Daniel could not decide whether he was the luckiest man on earth because Jihoon was an absolute darling, or the unluckiest because Jihoon had been the clingiest drunk he had ever had to care for. 

 

“I’m keeping you, Kang Daniel,” Jihoon mumbles, taking the entirety of Daniel’s arm and using it as a hug pillow. “I really, really like you too.” 

 

Daniel whipped his head to stare in shock at Jihoon’s profile bathed in moonlight and the streetlamp outside the apartment. Was Jihoon only pretending to be drunk? Did he hear all of Daniel’s confession? Will he remember anything? Does Daniel need to chew his arm off and escape via the garbage chute? 

 

Jihoon falls asleep in a heartbeat, hands refusing to part with Daniel’s all night. 

 

Daniel is convinced he won’t be able to sleep even a wink, but follows soon after as he is lulled to sleep by the sheer happiness of hearing that Jihoon likes him back.

  
  


***

 

“Here you go, soda with actual ice,” Daniel handed Jihoon the third glass of the day.

“Do you have anything stronger to warm me up, Niel-hyung,” Jihoon looked desolate, resigned to his fate and ready to be devoured by Daniel’s wolfish reputation. “It’s awfully cold outside.”

 

Daniel had felt like Jihoon had been acting strange all morning, and he got the sudden realization that he may not have been considerate. Sure, in his mind, he had already confessed and drunken Jihoon had admitted to liking him back. But what if drunk Jihoon was an evil force of nature who was created to bring his hopes up? Sober Jihoon probably had a different opinion about him. 

 

“Jihoon,” Daniel sat on the coffee table across the lamenting boy. “If you honestly, really, want to leave - I can drive you.” 

 

Jihoon looked up from between his fingers and had to feel a bit guilty: Daniel shifted from warm and bubbly to i-lost-my-country in less than ten seconds.

 

“You would?” 

 

Daniel nodded. 

 

This didn’t add up. Jihoon was convinced that Daniel was trapping him in this house to have his way with him. 

 

“Didn’t you want to...you know...keep me here?”

 

Daniel looked up, confusion clearly on his beautiful features. “Why would I keep you here?” 

 

Jihoon’s face crossed with confusion as well, and Daniel rethought what he just said. “I mean, I would  _ love _ to keep you here, and it would be  _ great _ if you could stay,” Daniel muttered, playing with his fingers as he sat hunched over the coffee table. “But if I make you uncomfortable, then we can try to get you home.”

 

“So you’re not going to...take advantage of me?” Jihoon blurted out, blushing at how that last part sounded.

 

Daniel choked on his own spit.

 

“Ah, I’m sorry!” Jihoon passed Daniel the glass of soda and the older gratefully gulped it down. “It’s just that, I like you, hyung, I really do, and I think I told you that last night, and I’m sorry, but Woojin told me that you go after little red riding hoods and leave them in a ditch to die afterwards, and oh god, I’m rambling, this is horrible,  _ aiiishh _ .” 

 

Jihoon’s face was almost red as his shorts and Daniel felt that his face was the same color as well.

 

“Wh-who told you that?” he asked, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes from all the coughing. 

 

Jihoon looked down before softly admitting, “Seongwoo-hyung told us the other day?” 

 

Daniel buried his face in both hands. 

 

“Jihoon,” he started, slowly and carefully. “Seongwoo has been telling the same story about me and my infamous but sadly nonexistent lovelife for the past two years.”

 

Jihoon raised both eyebrows at this. “Huh?”

 

“I couldn’t get a date a few years back and he says the bad boy image might help me out,” Daniel continued, playing with the glass in his hands. “So he made up a story that I sleep around and I especially like my targets vulnerable...it worked for a while, but they back off when they realize I’m...this.” 

 

Silence fell over them.

 

Daniel was half-wishing that they weren’t snowed in all alone with the level of awkwardness this has reached. Until Jihoon started laughing. 

 

“Daniel-hyung,” Jihoon laughed, relieved at how the whole situation unfolded and wanting all the awkwardness out in one go. “I just told you I liked you, hahahahaaa-eey.”

 

He scratched at his head at Daniel’s lack of response, his laughter dying almost as quickly as it started. “Aish, this is embarrassing...I’d show myself out if I could but-”

 

“It’s cold outside,” Daniel finished, smiling as he took Jihoon’s hand in his before putting the other hand to his cheek. 

 

“I really like you too, Park Jihoon.” 

 

***

 

“I thought you said you didn’t really want to keep me here,” Jihoon teased as Daniel tucked him in again for the evening. It did snow the whole day, but reports were saying that it should clear up overnight and tomorrow would be a sunny day. 

 

“I did, until we started unofficially dating a few hours ago,” Daniel grinned, plopping beside Jihoon outside the comforter. “Now I’m tempted to call your mom and tell her she can’t get you back.” 

 

“Ah, now the wolf is coming out,” Jihoon scoffed, burrowing under the covers for safety. 

 

“Only when you’re the little red riding hood I can gobble up,” Daniel replied, pulling Jihoon out of the blanket and attacking the smaller boy with tickles. 

  
  


Jihoon hated winter. It was far too cold to do anything, and he couldn’t go outside. But that evening, tucked under the comforter and his arms wrapped around Kang Daniel who was now contentedly sleeping beside him - he can’t help but to think that winter isn’t too bad after all. 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Happy new year everyone!   
> This was supposed to be just 2K words long but...have my first oneshot here ' u '  
> I swear my thing is gentle!Daniel and bratty!Jihoon and I can't write anything else.  
> No beta so there may be a few typos and formatting errors here and there...
> 
> This was part of the [Starry Nights of Winter](https://twitter.com/nwstarrynights) project! I'm excited to see a lot of fics in this tag (I'M ALREADY SEEING A LOT OF THEM I LOVE YOU ALL AUTHOR-NIMS) this 2018!
> 
> Kudos and comments always appreciated~!


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